In-game incentive granting device and program for incentive granting

ABSTRACT

Provided is a system comprising circuitry. In one aspect, the circuitry is configured to issue, to an existing user of a first game, an introduction code associated with a second game. In one aspect, the circuitry is also configured to grant, to the existing user, a predetermined incentive when at least one new user downloads an application of the second game using the introduction code. The predetermined incentive may be used in the first game.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. Ser. No.16/351,013, filed on Mar. 12, 2019, which is a Continuation Applicationof U.S. Ser. No. 15/225,367, filed on Aug. 1, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No.10,272,339, which is a Continuation Application of U.S. Ser. No.14/655,917, filed on Jun. 26, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,440,149, whichis a national stage application of International Application No.PCT/JP2013/078780, filed on Oct. 24, 2013, and claims the benefit ofpriority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from Japanese Patent Application No.2012-284152, filed Dec. 27, 2012; the entire contents of each of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an in-game incentive granting deviceand a program for incentive granting, and more particularly to atechnique for granting a predetermined incentive to an existing userintroducing a game to a new user.

BACKGROUND ART

In order to increase the number of users utilizing a game,conventionally, various devices are proposed. As a typical example, itis known that a point, an item or the like to be used in a certain gameis granted as a bonus to an existing user introducing a new user of thegame (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Referring to the Patent Document 1, an introduction relationship (aparent-child relationship) between users, for example, a user B and auser C who are introduced by a user A and start a game, a user D who isfurther introduced by the user B and starts the game, and the like ismanaged over a plurality of generations. A bonus point corresponding togame results of a child user and a grandchild user is continuouslygranted to a parent user.

Referring to the Patent Document 1, moreover, an existing user capableof introducing a game to a new user and acquiring a bonus point islimited to only a user who satisfies a predetermined condition in thegame. In other words, an introduction code to be used for introducing agame to another new user is issued to only an existing user satisfying apredetermined condition in the game.

According to the Patent Document 1 having such a structure, the existinguser is given a granting point corresponding to a point acquired throughthe game by a new user introduced by the existing user himself(herself). Moreover, a granting point corresponding to the acquiredpoint is continuously given to the existing user as long as the new userintroduced by the existing user himself (herself) continues a custom forplaying the game. For this reason, the point granting is not carried outonly once but continuously through the introduction by the existinguser.

Accordingly, the existing user positively introduce friends oracquaintances in order to acquire a granting point, thereby producing ahigher game result. Therefore, it is possible to increase an acquirementefficiency of a new user through an introduction by the existing user.Moreover, the new user introduced by the existing user and starting thegame also introduces his (her) friends or acquaintances soon in order toacquire a granting point, thereby generating a higher game result.Therefore, the number of the new users can be increased serially.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-83597

The prior art described in the Patent Document 1 provides a mechanismfor introducing, to another user, a game (an existing game) that hasalready been played by the existing user, thereby increasing the numberof new users for the existing game. Moreover, the bonus point to begranted to the existing user through the introduction relates to theexisting game. For this reason, according to the prior art described inthe Patent Document 1, it is possible to produce such advantages as toincrease the number of the users for the existing game and to cause theexisting user to concentrate on the existing game play more and more.

Referring to the prior art described in the Patent Document 1, however,there is a problem in that the number of the new users cannot beincreased for a game other than the existing game. For example, a gamemaker or a game operating company desires to increase the number ofusers for a short period of time when a new game is released. If thetechnique described in the Patent Document 1 is applied to the existinggame, however, the number of the users for the existing game can besimply increased and the number of the users for the new game cannot beincreased.

If the technique described in the Patent Document 1 is applied to thenew game, it is possible to expect the increase in the number of the newusers to some degree through an introduction of another user by the newuser for the new game. Immediately after the release of the new game,however, since many users are not aware of the release of the new gameor are absorbed in the play of the existing game even though they areaware of the release, the number of initial users is increased withdifficulty in some cases. Even if the technique described in the PatentDocument 1 is applied in that case, it is hard to rapidly increase thenumber of the new users for the new game.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems andhas an object to enable an effective increase in the number of new usersfor a game other than an existing game that has already been played byan existing user.

In order to attain the object, in the present invention, an existinguser is notified of presence of a second game to promote execution ofthe second game during execution of an application of a first gamethrough the existing user. Then, an introduction code to be used in anintroduction of the second game to a new user is issued during executionof an application of the second game through the existing user receivingthe notification. Thereafter, a predetermined incentive is granted tothe first game which is being used by the existing user in relation tothe fact that the new user downloads the application of the second gameupon receipt of an introduction from the existing user.

According to the present invention having the structure described above,the existing user of the first game can know the presence of the secondgame by receiving the notification of the second game during theexecution (play) of the first game. If the existing user receiving thenotification executes the second game and introduces the second game tothe new user, moreover, it is possible to obtain an incentive for thefirst game depending on the download of the second game through the newuser. Therefore, the existing user positively introduce the second gameto friends or acquaintances to aim at the acquirement of the incentive.

Consequently, if a new game is notified as the second game in the firstgame having many existing users immediately after release of the newgame, for example, many existing users who have already played the firstgame can be made aware of the presence of the second game. It ispossible to increase the number of new users for the second game throughthe fact that the many existing users themselves of the first game serveas the new users for the second game and that the friends oracquaintances receiving the introduction from the many existing usersserve as the new users for the second game.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possibleto effectively increase the number of the new users for the game (thesecond game) other than the existing game (the first game) which hasalready been played by the existing user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a whole structure of a gamesystem applying an in-game incentive granting device according to thepresent embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional structureof a server (the in-game incentive granting device) according to thepresent embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of association information to bestored in an association storing unit according to the presentembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the serveraccording to the present embodiment, that is, an example of an operationin execution of a notification of a second game when an existing userperforms a first game.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the serveraccording to the present embodiment, that is, an example of an operationin execution of an application of the second game downloaded by theexisting user.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the serveraccording to the present embodiment, that is, an example of an operationin execution of user registration by a new user downloading the secondgame upon receipt of an introduction from the existing user.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the serveraccording to the present embodiment, that is, an example of an operationof the server which is to be carried out for a notification period ofthe second game.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below withreference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of awhole structure of a game system applying an in-game incentive grantingdevice according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the gamesystem according to the present embodiment includes a server 100corresponding to the incentive granting device, and portable terminals200 and 300 installed with a game application (hereinafter referred toas a game app). The server 100 and the portable terminals 200 and 300are connected to each other through a communication network 400 such asinternet and can mutually carry out a data communication.

The portable terminals 200 and 300 can download and install a desirablegame app from the server 100 and can execute the game app. Although thegame app is mainly executed in the portable terminals 200 and 300, theyare connected to the server 100 to carry out the data communication asnecessary. For example, when a predetermined condition is cleared withadvance of a game, a notice of the fact is given from the portableterminals 200 and 300 to the server 100. Upon receipt of thenotification, the server 100 generates necessary data for taking variousactions in the game app and transmits the data to the portable terminals200 and 300. The actions include incentive granting which will bedescribed below in detail.

In the portable terminals 200 and 300, a user can freely download andinstall a desirable game app from the server 100. In the following, forconvenience of the description, it is assumed that the portable terminal200 of a user A has already been installed with an app of a first gameand the user A is executing (playing) the app of the first game. On theother hand, it is assumed that the portable terminal 300 of a user B isnot installed with the app of the first game and an app of a second gameis downloaded and installed upon receipt of an introduction from theuser A.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional structureof the server 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 100 according to thepresent embodiment includes, as the functional structure thereof, a gameapp storing unit 11, a download request receiving unit 12, a downloadingunit 13, a user registration information receiving unit 14, a userregistering unit 15, a second game notifying unit 16, a condition clearinformation receiving unit 17, an introduction code issuing unit 18, anassociation storing unit 19 and an incentive granting unit 20.

The functional structures 11 to 20 (excluding the game app storing unit11 and the association storing unit 19) provided in the server 100 canalso be implemented by all of a hardware structure, DSP (Digital SignalProcessor) and software. For example, in the case of the implementationthrough the software, the functional structures are actually configuredfrom a CPU, an RAM, an ROM and the like in a computer and can beimplemented by an operation of a program for incentive granting storedin the RAM or the ROM. Moreover, the program for incentive granting maybe stored in another recording medium such as a hard disk or asemiconductor memory.

The game app storing unit 11 stores various game apps to be downloadedinto the portable terminals 200 and 300. In the present embodiment, itis assumed that the game app storing unit 11 stores at least the app ofthe first game and that of the second game.

The download request receiving unit 12 receives a download request for agame app transmitted via a download site from the portable terminals 200and 300. The download request includes identification information of thegame app requested to be downloaded.

The downloading unit 13 acquires the requested game app from the gameapp storing unit 11 based on the download request received by thedownload request receiving unit 12 and downloads the game app into theportable terminals 200 and 300 which are requesting sources. Asdescribed above, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the appof the first game has already been downloaded into the portable terminal200 of the user A.

Moreover, the downloading unit 13 downloads the app of the second gameinto the portable terminal 200 of the user A receiving a notification ofthe second game during execution of the first game in response to thedownload request given from the user A. Furthermore, the downloadingunit 13 downloads the app of the second game into the portable terminal300 of the user B receiving the introduction of the second game from theuser A in response to a request given from the user B.

The user registration information receiving unit 14 receives userregistration information of the game apps transmitted from the portableterminals 200 and 300 via a user registration screen. The userregistration information includes at least user identificationinformation and game app identification information. Moreover, userregistration information about the app of the second game downloadedinto the portable terminal 300 by the user B upon receipt of theintroduction from the user A further includes an introduction code ofthe user A (which will be described below in detail).

The user registering unit 15 stores association information in theassociation storing unit 19 by using the user registration informationreceived by the user registration information receiving unit 14. Thedetails of the association information will be described below.

The second game notifying unit 16 gives the user A (the existing user)of the first game a notification of the presence of the second game,thereby promoting the execution of the second game during the executionof the app of the first game by the existing user A. In other words, thesecond game notifying unit 16 generates necessary notification data fordisplaying a notification page of the second game on the portableterminal 200 and necessary download site data for displaying a page of adownload site of the second game on the portable terminal 200 andtransmits the data to the portable terminal 200 as a mode for an actionto be taken in the app of the first game.

The notification data may be data itself on the notification page of thesecond game or link data to the notification page. In the case in whichthe notification data is the data itself on the notification page, theportable terminal 200 displays the notification page based on thenotification data when the notification data is transmitted from theserver 100. On the other hand, in the case in which the notificationdata is the link data to the notification page, the portable terminal200 first displays the link data thereon. When the user designates thelink, then, the notification page of the second game is displayed on theportable terminal 200. The notification page may be of a banner type fordisplay using a part of a screen or a full screen type for display usinga full screen.

The notification of the second game is given during the execution of thefirst game by the user A. Through a mechanism for logging in to theserver 100 from the portable terminal 200 at start of the first game, itis possible to grasp whether the user A is executing the first game ornot. In other words, the server 100 can grasp that the user A isexecuting the app of the first game by transmission of identificationinformation of the user A and that of the first game to the server 100when log in of the first game is carried out. To the contrary, when logoff of the first game is carried out, the server 100 can grasp that theuser A is not executing (has ended) the app of the first game.

It is possible to optionally set a timing for displaying thenotification page of the second game during the execution of the firstgame. For example, it is possible to set the display timing as a timingin which a predetermined time passes after the log in. Alternatively, itis also possible to set the display timing as a time that apredetermined condition set into the first game is cleared (anotification of the condition clear is transmitted from the portableterminal 200 to the server 100). The timing described above is onlyillustrative and the other timings may be employed.

The notification page of the second game describes that a predeterminedincentive (a point, an item or the like) is given to the first game whenthe second game is introduced to friends or acquaintances in addition toa sentence and an image introducing the content of the second game. Inthe case in which the existing user A of the first game sees thenotification page and takes an interest therein, he (she) transmits thedownload request of the second game from the portable terminal 200 tothe server 100 via the download site, thereby enabling the app of thesecond game to be downloaded from the server 100 and installed into theportable terminal 200.

Preferably, a link to the download site is provided on the notificationpage to enable the user to make a transition to the download site bydesignating the link on the notification page. In this case, the secondgame notifying unit 16 transmits the download site data to the portableterminal 200 depending on the designation of the link on thenotification page. The portable terminal 200 displays the page of thedownload site based on download site data transmitted from the server100.

The condition clear information receiving unit 17 receives conditionclear information for giving a notification that a predeterminedcondition is cleared in the second game. Herein, some methods can besupposed as a method of indicating which user cleared the predeterminedcondition in the second game. For example, it is possible to apply amethod of causing the condition clear information to include theidentification information of the second game and the identificationinformation of the user playing the second game. Alternatively, it isalso possible to recognize which user cleared the predeterminedcondition in the second game by using log in information to the secondgame for the user. In the latter case, it is not necessary to cause thecondition clear information to include the identification information ofthe second game and that of the user.

The predetermined condition can be set optionally. For example, it ispossible to set, as the predetermined condition, a breakthrough of atutorial to be a mode for learning a basic operation of a game whilemanipulating a character in the second game. Alternatively, it is alsopossible to set, as the predetermined condition, that a predetermineditem to be used in the second game is got or to set, as thepredetermined condition, that the point acquired in the second gamereaches a predetermined value. The conditions described above are onlyillustrative and the other contents may be set to be the predeterminedcondition.

The introduction code issuing unit 18 issues an introduction code to beused in the introduction of the second game to a new user (that is theuser B in the case of FIG. 1 and actually includes other users) duringthe execution of the app of the second game by the existing user A ofthe first game. The introduction code issuing unit 18 stores the issuedintroduction code in association with the identification information ofthe existing user A for the association storing unit 19.

When the existing user A performs user registration for the first game,the identification information of the existing user A is stored in theassociation storing unit 19 by the user registering unit 15. Theintroduction code issuing unit 18 stores the introduction code issued tothe existing user A for the association storing unit 19 in associationwith the identification information of the existing user A which hasalready been stored in the association storing unit 19.

Moreover, the introduction code issuing unit 18 transmits the issuedintroduction code to the portable terminal 200 of the existing user A.The existing user A introduces the second game to his (her) own friends,acquaintances or the like by using the introduction code. A timing forissuing the introduction code during the execution of the second gamecan be set optionally. For example, the timing can be set to be the timethat the predetermined condition set into the second game is cleared(the condition clear information receiving unit 17 receives conditionclear information from the portable terminal 200). In other words, theintroduction code issuing unit 18 issues an introduction code on thecondition that the predetermined condition is cleared in the second gameused newly by the existing user A upon receipt of the notification givenfrom the game notifying unit 16.

It is also possible to optionally set the predetermined condition inthis case. For example, it is possible to set the breakthrough of thetutorial of the second game as the predetermined condition.Alternatively, it is also possible to set, as the predeterminedcondition, that a predetermined item to be used in the second game isgot or to set, as the predetermined condition, that a point acquired inthe second game reaches a predetermined value. The conditions describedabove are only illustrative and the other contents may be set to be thepredetermined conditions.

Moreover, an introducing method to be executed by the existing user Ausing the issued introduction code is also optional. For example, thesecond game may be introduced through a social networking site (SNS) orby an E-mail. In the case in which the user B receiving the introductionof the second game from the existing user A of the first game takes aninterest in the introduction, he (she) transmits a download request ofthe second game from the portable terminal 300 to the server 100 via thedownload site, thereby enabling the app of the second game to bedownloaded from the server 100 and to be installed in the portableterminal 300.

The user B who downloaded the app of the second game also performs theuser registration of the second game through a user registration screen.At this time, information to be transmitted as user registrationinformation to the server 100 includes the identification information ofthe user B, the identification information of the second game and theintroduction code of the user A who introduced the second game. The userregistering unit 15 of the server 100 stores association information inthe association storing unit 19 by using these user registrationinformation.

Herein, the identification information of the existing user A of thefirst game and the introduction code of the existing user A have alreadybeen stored in the association storing unit 19 in association with eachother. The user registering unit 15 stores the identificationinformation of the new user B therein for the association storing unit19 in association with the identification information of the existinguser A corresponding to the introduction code which has already beenstored in the association storing unit 19.

Consequently, the association storing unit 19 stores the identificationinformation of the existing user A of the first game, the introductioncode issued to the existing user A of the first game, and theidentification information of the new user B who downloaded the app ofthe second game by using the introduction code in association with eachother. As described above, the identification information of theexisting user A and that of the new user B are stored in the associationstoring unit 19 by the user registering unit 15 in respective userregistering operations. Moreover, the introduction code is stored in theassociation storing unit 19 by the introduction code issuing unit 18when it is issued. Thus, recording means according to the presentinvention is configured from the user registering unit 15 and theintroduction code issuing unit 18.

FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of the association informationrelated to the first game to be stored in the association storing unit19. As shown in FIG. 3, the association information has, as items, theidentification information of the existing user of the first game, theintroduction code issued to the existing user and the identificationinformation of the new user. Although only the user A is present as theexisting user and only the user B is present as the new user in theexample of FIG. 1, a plurality of users including the existing user andthe new user is actually present. In the example shown in FIG. 3, thereare shown information about three people as the existing users for thefirst game.

In an initial state in which the existing user downloads only the app ofthe first game, only the identification information of the existing useris stored in the association storing unit 19 and no information isstored in items for the introduction code and the identificationinformation of the new user (see a record in which the identificationinformation of the existing user is “U0002”).

On the other hand, when the existing user A downloads the app of thesecond game upon receipt of the notification of the second game throughthe second game notifying unit 16 and the existing user clears thepredetermined condition during the execution of the second game (thebreakthrough of the tutorial or the like), this is transmitted as thecondition clear information from the portable terminal 200 to the server100 and is received by the condition clear information receiving unit17. When the introduction code is issued by the introduction codeissuing unit 18 upon receipt of this, the introduction code is stored inassociation with the identification information of the existing user(see a record in which the identification information of the existinguser is “U0003”).

When the new user who downloaded the app of the second game upon receiptof the introduction from the existing user carries out user registrationrelated to the app of the second game, furthermore, the identificationinformation of the new user, the identification information of thesecond game and the introduction code of the existing user are receivedby the user registration information receiving unit 14. Then, theidentification information of the new user is stored in the associationstoring unit 19 in association with the identification information ofthe existing user corresponding to the introduction code of the existinguser by the user registering unit 15 (see a record in which theidentification information of the existing user is “U0001”).

The user registration related to the app of the second game through thenew user is sequentially carried out according to convenience of the newuser. For this reason, the identification information of the new userwhich has been subjected to the user registration is sequentially storedin the association storing unit 19. In the example of FIG. 3,identification information about four new users are stored in theassociation storing unit 19 in association with the existing user havingthe identification information of “U0001”. Description will be given onthe assumption that the existing user having the identificationinformation of “U0001” is set to be the user A and the new users whodownloaded the app of the second game upon receipt of the introductionfrom the user A are set to be the users B to E.

The incentive granting unit 20 refers to the association informationstored in the association storing unit 19 to grant a predeterminedincentive (a point, an item or the like) to the first game which isbeing used by the existing user A in relation to the fact that the newusers B to E download the app of the second game upon receipt of theintroduction from the existing user A (accurately, the user registrationof the second game is carried out).

More specifically, the incentive granting unit 20 sequentially grants anincentive to the first game of the existing user A upon receipt of anotification of execution of the user registration from the userregistering unit 15 every time the four new users B to E download theapp of the second game upon receipt of the introduction from theexisting user A and execute the user registration of the second game.

In the present embodiment, thus, if the existing user A of the firstgame introduces the notified second game to the new users B to E and thenew users B to E download the app of the second game to carry out theuser registration, the existing user A can obtain an incentive for thefirst game that he (she) originally plays by choice. Accordingly, theexisting user A positively introduces the second game to friends oracquaintances in order to aim at acquirement of the incentive.

Consequently, if a new game is notified as the second game in the firstgame with the presence of many existing users immediately after releaseof the new game, for example, it is possible to effectively increase thenumber of new users for the second game through an introduction frommany existing users which have already played the first game.

In the present embodiment, moreover, there is employed a mechanism inwhich the introduction code is issued by the introduction code issuingunit 18 when the existing user A downloads and executes the app of thenotified second game by himself (herself) and the predeterminedcondition is cleared. For this reason, the existing user A himself(herself) serves as the new user of the second game on the assumptionthat the existing user A of the first game introduces the second game tothe new users B to E. Also from this viewpoint, it is possible toincrease the number of the new users for the second game.

A case in which the incentive granting unit 20 grants the incentive isnot restricted to the case described above. In other words, theincentive may be granted in the following case in addition to the casedescribed above.

As a first additional case, the incentive granting unit 20 refers to theassociation information stored in the association storing unit 19 togrant a predetermined incentive to the second game used newly by theexisting user A upon receipt of a notification given from the secondgame notifying unit 16 in relation to the fact that the new users B to Edownload the app of the second game upon receipt of the introductionfrom the existing user A (the user registration is carried out).

As described above, the existing user A himself (herself) should be thenew user of the second game to receive the issuance of the introductioncode in order to acquire the incentive for the first game through theintroduction of the second game to the new users B to E by the existinguser A of the first game. In the present embodiment, if thepredetermined condition of the breakthrough of the tutorial is simplycleared in relation to the second game, it is possible to receive theissuance of the introduction code. Even if the existing user A does notcontinue the play of the second game, then, it is possible to steadilyintroduce the second game to the new user.

For this reason, in the case in which the existing user A is absorbed inthe first game or the case in which the existing user A does notoriginally take a great interest in a category of the second game, it isunknown whether the existing user A continuously plays the second gamealso after the acquirement of the incentive for the first game. On theother hand, if the incentive for the second game is also granted asdescribed above, the existing user A can also be motivated tocontinuously play the second game.

In many cases, the user tends to play a game in a category adapted tohis (her) own interests and tastes by choice. For example, a user wholikes a battle game plays the battle game by choice, and some users donot play games in other categories at all in an extreme case. However,this is often so-called “prejudice”. In order to increase the number ofthe users for the games, it is desired that the user having theprejudice should also be acquired as a new user.

On the other hand, if the incentive for the second game is granted tothe existing user A of the first game as in the first additional case,the existing user A can be motivated to continuously play the secondgame in a different category from the category of the first game thatthe existing user A plays by choice. Consequently, it is possible toincrease a possibility that the existing user A might be acquired as anew user having a new category added to a taste.

As a second additional case, moreover, the incentive granting unit 20refers to the association information stored in the association storingunit 19 to grant a predetermined incentive to at least one of the firstgame and the second game every time the number of new users whodownloaded the app of the second game (carrying out the userregistration) upon receipt of the introduction from the existing userexceeds a predetermined number.

As a third additional case, furthermore, the incentive granting unit 20refers to the association information stored in the association storingunit 19 to rank the existing user in descending order of the number ofthe new users who downloaded the app of the second game (carrying outthe user registration) upon receipt of the introduction from theexisting user when a certain notification period is ended by the secondgame notifying unit 16, thereby granting a predetermined incentive to atleast one of the first game and the second game depending on theranking. For example, the incentive granting unit 20 grants an incentiveto top ten people in the ranking. At this time, the contents of theincentive may be varied depending on the ranking.

When the incentive is further granted in the second additional case orthe third additional case so that the number of the new usersdownloading the app of the second game upon receipt of the introductionfrom the existing user A is increased more greatly, thus, a large numberof incentives are granted to the first game of the existing user A.Consequently, a great motivation for introducing the second game to thenew user can be granted to the existing user A. Therefore, it ispossible to effectively increase the number of the new users for thesecond game through the introduction from the existing user A.

As a fourth additional case, furthermore, the incentive granting unit 20refers to the association information stored in the association storingunit 19 to grant a predetermined incentive to the first game which isbeing used by the existing user A in relation to the fact that theexisting user A clears a predetermined condition such as a breakthroughof a tutorial in the second game used newly by the existing user A uponreceipt of a notification given from the second game notifying unit 16.

Although the introduction code is issued by the introduction codeissuing unit 18 when the existing user A clears the predeterminedcondition in the second game as described above, the incentive for thefirst game is simultaneously granted at this time according to thefourth additional case. Consequently, it is possible to give theexisting user

A a motivation for the existing user A to clear a necessary conditionfor obtaining the introduction code.

Although the description has been given to the example in which theincentive is given to the existing user A of the first game when the newusers B to E carry out the user registration for the app of the secondgame which is downloaded in the embodiment, the present invention is notrestricted thereto. For example, the incentive granting unit 20 maygrant a predetermined incentive to at least one of the first game andthe second game which are being used by the existing user A on acondition that the new users B to E download the app of the second gameupon receipt of the introduction from the existing user A, andfurthermore, the new users B to E clear the predetermined condition inthe second game.

FIGS. 4 to 7 are flowcharts showing an example of an operation in theserver 100 (the in-game incentive granting device) according to thepresent embodiment which is configured as described above. FIG. 4 is aflowchart showing an example of an operation for giving a notificationof the second game when the existing user A is executing the first game.The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is started when the existing user A logsin to the server 100 from the portable terminal 200 in the execution ofthe first game.

First of all, the second game notifying unit 16 decides whether a timingfor displaying the notification page of the second game is reachedduring the execution of the first game or not (Step S1). If the timingfor displaying the notification page has not been reached yet, theprocessing makes a transition to Step S9. On the other hand, if thedisplay timing for the notification page is reached, the second gamenotifying unit 16 causes the portable terminal 200 to display thenotification page of the second game in order to give a notification ofthe presence of the second game to the existing user A of the firstgame, thereby promoting the execution of the second game (Step S2).

Next, the second game notifying unit 16 decides whether a link to thedownload site provided on the notification page is designated by themanipulation of the existing user A or not (Step S3). If the link is notdesignated, the second game notifying unit 16 decides whether thenotification page is closed by the manipulation of the existing user Aor not (Step S4). If the notification page is not closed, the processingreturns to the Step S3. On the other hand, if the notification page isclosed, the processing makes a transition to Step S9.

If it is decided that the link is designated in the Step S3, the secondgame notifying unit 16 causes the portable terminal 200 to display thedownload site of the game app thereon (Step S5). Herein, the downloadrequest receiving unit 12 decides whether the download of the app of thesecond game is designated on the download site or not, that is, adownload request for the app of the second game is received from theportable terminal 200 or not (Step S6).

If the download request for the app of the second game is received bythe download request receiving unit 12, the downloading unit 13 acquiresthe app of the second game from the game app storing unit 11 and thendownloads the app into the portable terminal 200 (Step S7). Thereafter,the second game notifying unit 16 decides whether the download site isclosed by the manipulation of the existing user A or not (Step S8). Ifit is decided that the download request for the app of the second gameis not generated in the Step S6, the processing makes a transition tothe Step S8.

If it is decided that the download site is not closed in the Step S8,the processing returns to the Step S6. On the other hand, if it isdecided that the download site is closed, the server 100 decides whethera log off processing related to the first game is carried out throughthe portable terminal 200 or not (Step S9). Herein, if the log offprocessing is not carried out, the processing returns to the Step S1. Onthe other hand, if the log off processing is carried out, the processingof the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is ended.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation to be carriedout when the existing user A is executing the app of the second gamewhich is downloaded in the Step S7. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 isstarted when the existing user A logs in to the server 100 from theportable terminal 200 in the execution of the second game.

The condition clear information receiving unit 17 decides whethercondition clear information for giving a notification of thebreakthrough of the tutorial by the existing user A in the second gameis received or not (Step S11). If the condition clear information is notreceived, the processing makes a transition to Step S15.

On the other hand, if the condition clear information is received by thecondition clear information receiving unit 17, the introduction codeissuing unit 18 issues the introduction code of the existing user A andtransmits the introduction code to the portable terminal 200 (Step S12).Moreover, the introduction code issuing unit 18 stores the issuedintroduction code in association with the identification information ofthe existing user A for the association storing unit 19 (Step S13).

Moreover, the incentive granting unit 20 refers to the associationinformation stored in the association storing unit 19 to grant apredetermined incentive to the first game which is being used by theexisting user A in relation to the breakthrough of the tutorial in thesecond game by the existing user A (Step S14).

Then, the server 100 decides whether the log off processing related tothe second game is carried out through the portable terminal 200 or not(Step S15). Herein, if the log off processing is not carried out, theprocessing returns to the Step S11. On the other hand, if the log offprocessing is carried out, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.5 is ended.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation to be carriedout when the new users B to E who downloaded the second game uponreceipt of the introduction from the existing user A perform the userregistration of the second game. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 isstarted when the user registration information receiving unit 14receives user registration information.

The user registering unit 15 decides whether the introduction code ofthe existing user A is included in the user registration informationreceived by the user registration information receiving unit 14 or not(Step S21). If the introduction code of the exiting user A is included,the user registering unit 15 stores the identification information ofthe new user for the association storing unit 19 in association with theidentification information of the existing user A corresponding to theintroduction code stored in the association storing unit 19 (which isthe same as that received by the user registration information receivingunit 14) (Step S22). Moreover, the user registering unit 15 notifies theincentive granting unit 20 of the fact that the identificationinformation of the new user is registered in association with theidentification information of the existing user A.

Upon receipt of the notification, the incentive granting unit 20 refersto the association information stored in the association storing unit 19to grant a predetermined incentive to the first game which is being usedby the existing user A in relation to the fact that the new userreceiving the introduction from the existing user A downloads the app ofthe second game and performs the user registration (Step S23), andfurthermore, to grant a predetermined incentive to the second game usednewly by the existing user A (Step S24). Consequently, the processing ofthe flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is ended.

If it is decided that the introduction code of the existing user A isnot included in the user registration information in the Step S21 (thatis, the new user uniquely downloads the second game and performs theuser registration without the introduction from the existing user A),the user registering unit 15 stores the new user as the existing user ofthe second game for the association storing unit 19 (Step S25). In thiscase, the processing in the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is thus ended.

As described above, it is also possible to grant predeterminedincentives to the first game and the second game on the condition thatthe new users B to E clear a predetermined condition in the second gamewithout granting the incentive to the existing user A by simplyperforming the user registration for the app of the second gamedownloaded by the new users B to E.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the server100 which is to be carried out for the notification period of the secondgame. The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is started when an operator of theserver 100 sets a certain notification period to the second gamenotifying unit 16 and the incentive granting unit 20 to give aninstruction for starting the notification of the second game, forexample.

The incentive granting unit 20 decides whether the certain notificationperiod thus set is ended or not (Step S31). If the notification periodhas not been ended yet, the incentive granting unit 20 refers to theassociation information stored in the association storing unit 19 todecide whether the number of new users who downloaded the app of thesecond game (who performed the user registration) exceeds apredetermined number for each existing user stored in the associationstoring unit 19 or not (Step S32).

If there is an existing user for whom the number of new users exceeds apredetermined number, the incentive granting unit 20 grants apredetermined incentive to the first game of the existing user (StepS33). Then, the processing returns to the Step S31. On the other hand,if it is decided that there is no existing user for whom the number ofnew users exceeds the predetermined number in the Step S32, theprocessing returns to the Step S31.

Thus, the processing of the Steps S31 to S33 is usually executed in aloop. For this reason, the association information in the associationstoring unit 19 is updated at any time during the processing. Every timethe number of the new users who downloaded the app of the second gameupon receipt of an introduction from a certain existing user (whoperformed the user registration) exceeds the predetermined number, apredetermined incentive is granted to the first game of the existinguser.

If it is decided that the certain notification period is ended in theStep S31, moreover, the incentive granting unit 20 refers to theassociation information stored in the association storing unit 19 torank the existing user in descending order of the number of the newusers, thereby granting a predetermined incentive to the first game ofthe existing user depending on the ranking, for example (Step S34).Consequently, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is ended.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, theexisting user of the first game can know the presence of the second gameby receiving the notification of the second game during the execution(play) of the first game. If the existing user executes the second gamewhich is notified and introduces the new user and the new user thusintroduced downloads the second game to perform the user registration,moreover, the existing user can obtain the incentive for the first game.Thus, the existing user of the first game positively introduce thesecond game to friends or acquaintances to aim at the acquirement of theincentive.

Consequently, by giving a notification of a new game as a second game inthe first game with presence of many existing users immediately afterrelease of the new game, for example, the many existing users playingthe first game can be made aware of the presence of the second game.Thus, it is possible to increase the number of the new users of thesecond game through the fact that the many existing users themselves forthe first game serve as the new users for the second game and thefriends or acquaintances introduced by the many existing users serve asthe new users for the second game.

Although the description has been given to the example in which thefunction of the second game notifying unit 16 is provided in the server100 in the embodiment, the present invention is not restricted thereto.For example, it is also possible to employ such a mechanism as to givethe notification of the second game as the function of the app of thefirst game (that is, as an application program of the first game).However, the degree of freedom of the notification of the second game isreduced in this case. As described in the embodiment, therefore, it ispreferable that the second game notifying unit 16 should be provided inthe server 100.

Although the description has been given to the structure in which theserver 100 includes the game app storing unit 11, the download requestreceiving unit 12 and the downloading unit 13 in the embodiment,moreover, the present invention is not restricted thereto. For example,these may be provided in a separate download dedicated server (notshown) from the server 100.

The description has been given to the example in which the new users Bto E input the introduction code of the existing user A issued by theintroduction code issuing unit 18 in the user registration related tothe second game in the embodiment, furthermore, the present invention isnot restricted thereto. For example, the introduction code is issued bythe introduction code issuing unit 18 when the existing user A breaksthrough the tutorial of the second game, and furthermore, URL of adedicated download site for the existing user A is issued and istransmitted to the portable terminal 200 of the existing user A. The newusers B to E introduced from the existing user A may download the app ofthe second game from the URL and embed the introduction code of theexisting user A into the app of the second game which is downloaded.

In addition, the embodiment is only illustrative for concreteness tocarry out the present invention and the technical scope of the presentinvention should not be thereby construed to be restrictive. In otherwords, the present invention can be carried out in variousconfigurations without departing from the gist or main features thereof.

EXPLANATION OF DESIGNATION

14 user registration information receiving unit

15 user registering unit

16 second game notifying unit

17 condition clear information receiving unit

18 introduction code issuing unit

19 association storing unit

20 incentive granting unit

100 server

200, 300 portable terminal

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising circuitry, the circuitrybeing configured to issue, to an existing user of a first game, anintroduction code associated with a second game; and grant, to theexisting user, a predetermined first incentive upon registration of atleast one new user for the second game using the introduction code, thepredetermined first incentive being used in the first game.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to storethe introduction code in association with identification information ofthe existing user.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to store identification information of the at leastone new user in association with the introduction code.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein a category of the first game being different from acategory of the second game.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to issue the introduction code while theexisting user is playing the first game.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the circuitry is further configured to issue the introductioncode to the existing user upon registration of the existing user for thesecond game.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to issue the introduction code to the existing user when theexisting user clears a predetermined condition in the second game. 8.The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured togrant, to the existing user, a predetermined second incentive uponregistration of the at least one new user for the second game using theintroduction code, the predetermined second incentive being used in thesecond game.
 9. The in-game incentive granting device of claim 1,wherein the introduction code includes a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)identifier, and wherein the at least one new user downloads anapplication of the second game from the URL.
 10. The in-game incentivegranting device of claim 1, wherein the at least one new user includes aplurality of new users; wherein the circuitry is further configured togrant, to the existing user, a predetermined third incentive, each timea number of the plurality of new users who are registered for the secondgame exceeds a predetermined number, the predetermined third incentivebeing used in either the first game or the second game.
 11. The in-gameincentive granting device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to: determine a ranking that ranks the existing user indescending order of the number of the at least one new user who isregistered for the second game upon receipt of the introduction from theexisting user; and grant, to the existing user, a predetermined fourthincentive based on the ranking, the predetermined fourth incentive beingused in either the first game or the second game.
 12. The in-gameincentive granting device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to grant, to the existing user, a predetermined fifthincentive when the at least one new clear a predetermined condition inthe second game, the predetermined fifth incentive being used in eitherthe first game or the second game.
 13. A method for granting in-gameincentive, the method comprising: issuing, to an existing user of afirst game, an introduction code associated with a second game; andgranting, to the existing user, a predetermined first incentive uponregistration of at least one new user for the second game using theintroduction code, the predetermined first incentive being used in thefirst game.